Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
undefined
undefined

Lesson Ideas

 
Reading & Writing Activities Art & Drama Activities References

 
 

Reading & Writing Activities:

  • Tea Party-  Each student gets a strip of paper with a sentence or dialogue from a story.  Students must say what is on their strip, and only what is on the strip, to at least 5 different people.  Then, the students try to predict what the story will be about based on the sentences they heard.  (Activity presented in class.)
  • Fairy Tale Times-  The students create a newspaper containing events from various fairy tales.  Newspaper includes: feature articles, editorials, sports, advertisements, the classifieds, comic strips, personal ads, and obituaries. Examples include: “I was framed! said the Big Bad Wolf” (The 3 Pigs), “Child charged with breaking and entering” (Goldilocks and the 3 Bears), and “Mysterious woman found wandering the beach” (The Little Mermaid).1 
  • Gender Bender- Rewrite the story and change the main character's gender.  How might the story have been different?2
  • Personal Ad-  Students write a personal ad from the point of view of a fairy tale character.  What qualities would that character be looking for?2 
  • Modern Rewrite- Chose a point in the story.  Students rewrite the story from that point based on what an average person would do today.  Example: Snow White wakes up to find a man she has never seen before kissing her.  She slaps him and kicks him out.  Then, she files a police report. 
  • Venn Diagram-  Use a Venn Diagram (two overlapping circles) to compare and contrast Cinderella characters from two different countries.
  • Chart of Characteristics- Make a chart of characteristics common to fairy tales. 
        Example:
     
    Cinderella The 3 Pigs Snow White
    Happened long ago Once upon a time…  There once were… Once upon a time….
    Element of magic Fairy Godmother Talking pigs and talking wolf Magic mirror
    Happy ending Cinderella and Prince together Wolf is never seen again Snow White and Prince together

    Back to top

Art & Drama Activities:

  • Readers Theater-  Provide students with a script or have the students create their own.  Students read from the script, there is no need to memorize.   Students can prepare a performance for younger students.
  • Storyboard- Make a graphic representation of 3 to 6 significant events in the story.  This can be done individually or in small groups.  Example: Divide the class into 6 different groups.  Each group reads a version of Cinderella from a different country.  Each group creates a storyboard and shares it with the class.   The students can compare and contrast the different versions based on the storyboards. 
  • Costume and Dress- After reading fairy tales from different countries, students research dress in those countries.  Students put on a fashion show.  Example:  Research dress after reading Cinderella stories.  Put on a Cinderella/Prince Charming From Around the World Fashion Show.1 
  • Tableau-  In groups, students create a frozen scene from the story.  A group member is the director and will tap once person on the shoulder.  That person is will speak in person while the other people remain frozen.  When that person is tapped again, they freeze.  Each student will have an opportunity to be unfrozen and speak in character.
  • Hot Seat- The person in the “hot seat” answers questions, in character,  from other group members.  Group members can ask questions about certain events, motivation for certain actions, or what happened when the character was “off camera,” or out of the scene.
  • Board Game- Design a board game based on the events of the story.2 
  • If the Shoe Fits-  Have students select 3 fairy tale characters.  The students will make a collage using shoes from magazines and catalogs.  The shoes need to fit the character's personality or activity.  Example: Jack (from Jack and the Beanstalk) needs athletic sneakers for climbing up and down the beanstalk and running away form the giant.3 


Back to top

References:

1.  Wolf, J. M. (1997) The Beanstalk and Beyond. Englewood, Colorado: Teacher 
     Ideas Press.

2.  Burke, J. (1998) “103 Things to do Before/During/After Reading.” The English 
     Teacher’s Companion. New York: Boyntom-Cook.

3.  Flack, J. D. (1997) From the Land of Enchantment.  Colorado Springs: University 
     of  Colorado Press.

Back to top


 
 
Home Cinderella 
Stories
Sleeping Beauty 
Stories
Snow White
Stories